News

Latino community on edge over ICE busts, protesters say

Demonstrators protest arrests by ICE of several people over the past three days.

By Bill Moss, Published: April 17, 2018

The Latino community in Henderson County was plunged into fear and apprehension by ICE officers’ detention of several people over the past three days, demonstrators outside ICE’s Hendersonville office said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers made the arrests starting Saturday in the Piedmont and the mountains, according to multiple media reports.
“ICE arrested approximately a dozen unlawfully present foreign nationals across Western North Carolina today,” ICE spokeman Bryan Cox told Carolina Public Press on Saturday. “The majority of those arrested have criminal convictions beyond their immigration status or … illegally reentered the United States after a previous deportation.”
But an Asheville-based organization that advocates for Latinos, CIMA (Compañeros Inmigrantes de las Montanas en Accion), said it had received reports of checkpoints, raids and ICE officers patrolling in plainclothes. CIMA said it had warned people to avoid areas were the ICE activity had been reported.

"We are against the intrusion of our neighborhoods by ICE and will be protecting and defending all of our people from detainment and deportation," CIMA said in a statement. "Current efforts from community members include: fundraising money to financially support those affected, verifying different reports of ICE activity and building a plan to ensure communities know their rights and are able to protect themselves and their families.

CIMA and other organizations, including True Ridge, El Centro of Henderson, said they had contacted the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department to ask for transparency on their collaboration with ICE.

Lori Hernandez, one of the protesters standing at the corner of Sixth Avenue West and Justice Street, said she had contacted the sheriff’s office about whether the agency was participating in the arrests. She said Maj. Frank Stout checked three times and called her back to tell her that he had no reports of sheriff’s deputies making arrests in cooperation with ICE. Stout confirmed that in a news release late Monday night.

"The Henderson County Sheriff’s Office has not participated in any of the recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations in western North Carolina," he said. "The 287g jail enforcement model under which the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office operates applies only in the jail. This means a person must first be arrested by local law enforcement on criminal charges and be brought to the jail before any 287g activity takes place. This is the only time the documented or undocumented status of an offender is able to be checked by any member of the Sheriff’s Office or the Detention Facility. The Sheriff’s Office was not asked, nor have they participated in any of the detaining/arrests of targeted criminals in the recent ICE efforts. The 287g program is designed to increase the safety and security of our community by apprehending and removing undocumented criminal offenders."

That statement notwithstanding, the ICE activity had already spilled over into a contentious sheriff's race. The Latino advocacy activists say they plan to attend Tuesday night's campaign forum to raise questions about the arrests and the candidates' positions on aiding ICE.

The Sixth Avenue demonstration, in a biting wind with temperatures in the low 40s, was peaceful. A Department of Homeland Security police officer stood behind the protesters. The officer, who did not work for ICE, said he was sent to the scene to protect the federal office against the potential of a threat. ICE leases the building from the owner. Protesters held signs that said, “This is Us. Our community, our friends, our neighbors, our families," and “Respect Existence or Expect Resistance.”